Making up for it
by dgirl
Summary: WARNING: HOMOSEXUAL REFERENCES. A fanfic for my friend Sean, to explain a few things. RR.


Disclaimer: I don't own the Mighty Ducks. Believe me, I wish I did though. (Don't we all) So please don't sue me, cuz I'm flat broke. I do own my own character though, and Sean Sinclaire belongs to no one but himself.

Note: Anything in italics is a flashback. The flashback in this story is a real-life event that actually happened to me, with a tiny bit of writer's licence applied as I can't remember exactly what happened. Also, Mel's Diner really does exist and the stuff about Derek Acorah really is true. It's on Sunset Strip, not far from the Comedy Store, if you ever get a chance to visit. Make sure you try the mozzarella sticks, they're delicious. :)

Note to Sean: You know I told you I'd gone AWOL from the list that time? Well, this is an explanation, an apology and a well wish for the future, all in one. I hope you can forgive me for how I acted all those years ago. I don't feel that way now, believe me.

**Warning: This story contains references to homosexuality. If you've got a problem with that, stop reading now. I warned you, so don't flame me for it. The rating is PG-13 for sexual content.**

**Making Up For It**

Kayleigh Beall walked into the Ready Room and smiled. Sitting on the sofa in the corner, fast asleep in each other's arms, were Sean and Grin. Sean had his head resting on Grin's chest, and Grin's arms were wrapped around Sean's waist. They were the image of a perfect couple, and they were both guys. Once, that would have mattered to me, Kayleigh thought. Once, that would have disgusted me. But now, it seems the most natural thing in the world to see them like this. She sat down next to them and they stirred for an instant. Sean nuzzled his head into Grin's shoulder and gently kissed his neck, still half asleep. It was a gesture that Kayleigh had performed on the love of her own life, Duke, many times before. Grin murmured softly and the two drifted back into a deep sleep, with Kayleigh's eyes still on them. I remember when that was me and Duke, she thought. Falling asleep in each other's arms during the day because we'd kept each other awake all night making love. She sighed, thinking of that blissful week when her and Duke had first become lovers. The nights had been ecstasy, the days tired bliss. It had eventually come to an end when Duke had messed up so badly in practice that Wildwing had threatened to have them sleeping in separate rooms unless Duke got his sleep. Then the two had had to cut it down to only one or two sessions of lovemaking a night but still, their bedroom life was as good as ever. Kayleigh couldn't help missing that first stage though, when it had felt like there was no one else in the world except her and Duke. Now, another couple were living that week or so of heaven, before Wildwing got his way, and it was all because of her. I got them together, she thought. I brought about this love.

It had been just over a month ago when Sean, an old friend of Kayleigh's off the Puckworld Communications mailing list, had come down from Canada to visit the team for the first time. They had met up in Los Angeles, in Mel's Diner on Sunset Strip. Kayleigh had raved on about how her idol, medium Derek Acorah, had eaten there when he was having his powers tested by the ISPR (International Society for Paranormal Research). She had then gone soppy, sighing and draping herself over Duke as Elvis Presley's 'Can't Help Falling In Love' played on the jukebox. But it was Sean and Grin that were falling in love. The chemistry between the two was instantaneous. As Sean had leant across the seat to choose a song from the jukebox build directly into the booth, taking the chance to press against Grin's body as he did so, you could have cut the sexual tension in the air with a knife. Kayleigh's old room was being using for storage, so Sean had ended up sleeping on the sofa in Grin's room for the month he was supposed to be staying for. But on the night before Sean was due to leave, with a lot of comfort and encouragement from Kayleigh, Grin had plucked up the courage to tell Sean how he felt about him. It was the first time that Grin had admitted to anyone, with full knowledge of what it meant, that he was gay. When he was 13, he had told his best friend that he loved him, but he hadn't known about homosexuality and what it meant back then. His friend had turned on him and broke his heart, leaving his life for many years, only returning to die of a terrible virus that had been ravaging their world. Grin had been there, holding his friend's hand, crying and kissing him goodbye, when his friend passed on in agony in a sickbed of one of the many makeshift healer's camps, not even able to remember his own name. Grin had been through hell because of love, so he was so frightened to let himself fall in love once more that he nearly lost the one person who could make him whole again. All that he had told Sean on that night, as he laid his heart bare, holding nothing back. Sean had offered to take it slowly if Grin wanted to, but after sharing their first kiss, nature had taken its course at a fairly rapid rate. And the rest was history. The two were lovers and had been so for almost a week.

As Kayleigh looked at them, sleeping there so peacefully in each other's arms, she thought of all the effort that she had put into getting them together. There were reasons for it though. And one of the reasons lay many years ago, in her homophobic past.

_The rain poured down in Oxford Street, London, as Kayleigh and her parents sheltered under a balcony, waiting for it to stop. Kayleigh was deep in thought at the time, about her old friend Sean. How could he? I trusted him, she thought, and he turned out to be gay. I thought he was an okay person, but now I know he does... She cringed in disgust as the mental image of how she'd been told that gay couples have sex crossed her mind. I can't believe that someone I really liked could do things like that. I can never go back to the mailing list now. She looked around, and then did a double take over one of the pillars holding the balcony up. Standing next to the pillar was a couple kissing passionately. A couple who both had short hair and no sign of visible hips. A couple who looked suspiciously like they were both men._

"_Mum," she said, in a rather nervous tone as she continued to stare, nudging her mother, "Are those two people kissing both guys?"_

"_They might be, I can't really tell," her mum replied, taking a much more subtle look at them than her daughter was doing, "There's nothing wrong with that though. Lots of men are gay."_

_Kayleigh looked around at the people passing. They looked around and must have seen the couple, but no one commented on them. No one looked twice. And the couple continued to kiss, appearing as if they didn't give a damn what passers-by thought. They don't care, she thought. They don't care because they're in love._

Kayleigh began to stir from her remembering to see that Grin and Sean were starting to wake up. What she had seen that day in Oxford Street hadn't changed her opinion on gay couples straight away, but it had begun the change. And slowly but surely, she had regained her trust in Sean, until she felt ready to rejoin the list again. After rekindling her friendship with him, she now felt a deep protectiveness towards him and towards gay couples in general. She had invited him to stay with the team, arranged to put him in Grin's room and fanned the flames of passion into the blaze of a relationship, all because she felt she needed to make amends for the way she had acted, running away from the list because she couldn't face him after what he'd told her. She did care about him and want him to be happy just for the sake of it, but that was the main reason she had hooked the two of them up. And she'd been the one who'd made Sean come out on the list in the first place, calling him 'she' and sparking what had looked like it would turn into a blazing row over whether he was male or female. In the end, he'd had to tell the list he was male to stop the fighting, thereby revealing his sexuality at the same time.

"Thinking deep thoughts?" asked Sean, shaking Kayleigh from her thoughts.

"Kinda," she replied, "I'm thinking about how events can spark off other events. How a seemingly ordinary thing that happens to one person can end up causing a chain of events that changes someone else's life completely. You know how they say that a butterfly can flap its wings in China and a tornado can start here in the USA? Well, they're right."

"Well, you've lost me there," replied Sean, raising his eyebrows. "And I should be getting used to philosophy like that by now," he added, looking up at Grin and smiling, with the deepest love in his eyes. Grin smiled back, and then looked at Kayleigh and said,

"Thank you so much. If it wasn't for you, I'd never have had the courage to grasp love with both hands. I'd still be alone. You've helped me change my life forever and for that, I can never repay you."

Kayleigh just looked at the ground and blushed. If only you knew, Grin, she thought. Suddenly, the elevator door opened.

"Practice! Come on, you're late!" Wildwing yelled from the elevator. As he turned away, they all saw the smile cross his face at how happy the couple now were. He was only being stern to keep the team in shape. Really, he was overjoyed at his team mate's newfound happiness. As Grin and Sean walked towards the elevator, hand in hand, Kayleigh took one last look at the couple that she had helped bring together. You owe me nothing, Grin, she thought. I did an awful thing in the past, and I was just making up for it. And I still will be for a very long time to come.

The End


End file.
